I, as I’m sure many of you are, am a lover of grime and garage. I’ve been longing for a night based around these two genres, but have been disappointed for oh so long. However, much to my excitement, on Monday, Mansion premiered the newest event on their roster, Drop. DJing was OnlyArian, Effy and Watson & Cromwell, and the night not only included grime and garage, but also house. Now, I must admit, I’m not much of a house-lover, but I was willing to make the sacrifice of enduring it for my two true loves: grime and garage.
We turned up to Mansion at about 11:15. The night wasn’t looking too good initially, with a severe lack of human life outside of the old, single-glazing house. Indeed, this carried on when we walked in and went downstairs. There weren’t too many people there at first – about 30 perhaps. However, the night was still young, and I had only had two drinks.
So my attention turned to the music: it was garage! Finally, I was hearing a genre of music I actually enjoy in a club. The DJ seemed well equipped for the night, with his hype-man by his side. As the garage got progressively better, and I was busy dancing to Artful Dodger, I started to hear intersperses of grime every now and then. Then it came. I heard it. The beginning of ‘That’s Not Me’ by Skepta and JME began to play, and I went mad. Knowing every lyric, I of course rapped along, making myself look like an OG in the streets. Later came ‘Next Hype’ by Tempa T – in addition to ‘Take Time’ by Mumdance and Novelist – and the crowd went wild. Grime was in full affect.
Unfortunately, for me at least, the night went downhill from there. There was about one hour of garage and grime (from 11ish), and then the night turned to house. Not being a fan of house, I’m not even sure if the house they played was even any good. Oh well, I enjoyed the grime and garage.
Don’t let this discourage you. I’m not a huge fan of house, I was just hoping there would be a bit more garage and grime than there was. But, if you like all three genres of music, then definitely give Drop. a chance! In fact, if you like only one of the three genres, you should give the night a chance. The crowd was good, the atmosphere was fun, and for the most part, the music was good.
So, all in all, the night was alright. I would have preferred more grime and garage, but alas, we can’t always get what we want.